Police have discovered a motorcycle chop shop operation in Northeast Philadelphia and it appears the thieves made a big mistake by stealing a policeman's bike.

Only Action News was on scene as police recovered four stolen motorcycles intact and another chopped up in storage bins Wednesday in a Northeast Philadelphia garage on the 6200 block of Farnsworth Street.

"When they are sold as parts they are actually worth more value than if they are sold together," Sgt. Dan Buckley of Major Crimes said.

It all began around 2:00 a.m. after an off-duty officer reported his motorcycle stolen.

That bike had a LoJack tracking system and the vehicle information was placed into a national crime database.

A few hours later, an officer from truck enforcement was patrolling the area. His van received a signal from the LoJack stolen vehicle recovery corporation.

"[He] did a great job surveying the Northeast area and tracked the signal to 6217 Farnsworth," Buckley said.

Police didn't find their suspect, but recovered several motorcycles. Four are allegedly stolen out of Philadelphia, another out of Bensalem.

Detectives are still trying to arrest their suspect, but they did take his girlfriend in for questioning.

They suspect the vehicles and parts were being shipped to Jamaica

"It's very profitable, it's untaxed sales," Buckley said.

Police say it appears their suspect has gotten a lawyer and they're told he will turn himself in to face theft and other charges related to running a chop shop.